We Boulderites are known for being animal-loving, tree-hugging, Crocs-wearing, vegan hippie types, prone to committing random acts of kindness and rants of righteous indignation. Well, this article should stir up much of the latter.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, is well-known among the aforementioned animal-loving hippie types around here. PETA is hailed as an activist group that takes itself very, very seriously and gets serious results, at least in the media.
But now there is a new PETA story in the media and I'm hoping against all evidence that it is wrong. PETA recently filed their "Animal Record" report for 2008 with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. According to the report, PETA took in 2,216 animals in 2008. They found homes for seven of them. Seven. That means 95% of the animals PETA "rescued" last year ended up dead at their hands.
WTF? PETA killed 95% of the animals they took in? What the hell did they do with the obscene amounts of money ($32 million) their very visible media blitzes brought in if they didn't use it to help the animals? Apparently they used it to create more media blitzes. Like the one in which a struggling, crying person's head is cut off and their flesh eaten to educate the public about the atrocities of the slaughterhouse.
Melissa Clouthier of Pajamas Media summed it up succinctly: "Over 20,000 dogs and cats were killed by PETA since 1998. Meanwhile, they spent millions chiding people for eating meat and chicken and fish. Just a tiny percentage of their massive budget could save thousands of lives and yet they hypocritically lecture others about their lifestyle."
I keep searching for contentions that prove this story false but I just keep coming up with more evidence of it's veracity. I always felt PETA was too radical for me personally but I appreciated what I thought was a heartfelt effort to help animals. I'm disillusioned and worse, I'm terrified about the effect this announcement may have on other, legitimate animal organizations.
So, all my animal friends out there, what do we do about this? How do we rescue the animals that PETA rescues? Nothing seems adequate. I await your suggestions.
Comments
If they're gonna kill the animals, they ought to open a restaurant next to their slaughterhouse and make proper use of the protein.
As I understand it, PETA is against pet ownership in general. They don't believe that animals should be "used" by people in any way whatsoever, be it for food, for entertainment, or even for companionship. My reading has lead me to believe that they would rather see an animal dead than in the ownership of a human (regardless of how caring and responsible they are).
Meanwhile, they use sex to sell their beliefs, treating female volunteers worse than many people would ever treat an animal. In their quest for complete animal liberation, they have forgotten women's liberation... and the girls degrade themselves by going along with it.
I am 100% FOR animal rights, but I don't think that neglecting HUMAN rights gets their point across very well. Nor will I ever support a group that thinks that killing an animal is kinder than re-homing it.
I recommend that anyone who wants to help animals "go veg" OR buy free range / cage free animal products and support your local animal shelters. Don't give PETA any more money or power than they already have.
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